White Wedding
by SheCanDoBetter
Summary: It's the day of Clare's wedding and she's having doubts. Eli must help comfort and support her. ONE-SHOT


**So this is my first fanfiction. Reviews would be appreciated. Criticism is welcomed, preferably that of the constructive kind. If you have any tips or advice to help me improve writing, it would be amazing if you could inform me of them. So let's all clink our glasses together and take a drink.**

White Wedding

"Clare, calm down please, you're making me mess up your hair." An angry Darcy groaned while trying to put a veil on top of Clare's head.

As she paced back and forth, the boiling anxiety inside Clare wouldn't simmer down. "I'm sorry Darc." Clare apologized as she stopped and plumped down on the small futon provided by the church. Her sleek, lacy white dress tightened on her upper thighs as she leaned her head back and and grabbed the bridge of her nose between her thumb and forefinger.

Darcy gently sat next to her sister and reached out an arm to rest on Clare's shoulder. "Look, I know you feel nervous, but it's really just excitement. Trust me, when Peter and I got married, I thought I was going to throw up. Hell, I wanted to escape out the backdoor. I thought I was so nervous, but once I started walking down to aisle and saw his face, I realized I wasn't really nervous, because I loved him and knew that this is what I wanted to do. I was just excited." She offered advice to her queasy sister.

Clare suddenly looked towards her sister as she dropped her hand into her lap. "I need to speak to Eli." She spoke with wide eyes of realization.

As she looked up, Darcy's eyes landed on one of Clare's bridesmaids, Alli. "Alli, can you go get Eli?" The bride's sister asked with a questioning tone in her voice. Alli looked at her troubled friend and slowly nodded with a confused expression as she exited towards the sanctuary.

As her foot tapped against the hard wood, Clare kept glancing at door. Sensing the bride's tense body, Darcy gave her shoulder a slight squeeze then dropped her hand onto her sister's thigh. "Clare, why do you need to see Eli?" She asked with concern and slight anger lacing every word. As Clare didn't respond, Darcy tried again. "Okay look, Mom and Dad and Glen have spent a lot of money on this wedding for you, so we all expect it to happen without a mishap. You know I fully support you, but I can't say Mom will be understanding if you get cold feet." Clare ignored her and kept glancing around as she sighed. Giving up, Darcy stood and kissed the top of her sister's head. "I love you, Clare, and I believe that you will make the right decision, whatever it is. Just listen to your heart and have no regrets. If you need me, call, I'm going to go make sure Peter picked out the correct tie." She said as she left the small room.

Clare stood up and politely asked Jenna to give her a second on her own. As Jenna opened the door to leave, Alli opened it at the same time, with Eli following behind her. Alli and Jenna made eye contact and silently agreed they needed to give Eli and Clare some time alone. As the girls rushed out, Eli slowly shuffled in. He was dressed in a black suit with a white collared shirt underneath and a black tie. He was adorned with black Chucks. It reminded Clare of the outfit she'd seen many times before, like on Prom night.

"Hey." He said softly, trying to make eye contact. When she refused to meet his gaze, he took a few steps forward until he could gently grab her arm. "Is everything okay?" He asked with concern in every syllable. Clare kept her head turned with her eyes looking at the ground. "Clare, what's wrong?" Eli asked as he raised her chin with his fingers. She met his gaze with watering eyes and barely whispered. "I don't know if I can do this."

Eli gulped before he turned his head slightly to let out a sigh. "Look, Clare, you don't have to do anything you don't want to." He reassured her as he met her eyes again. "Hell, you can run out the back door and I'll go out and tell everybody what happened."

Clare frowned and slightly shook her head. "Eli, I can't do that. It wouldn't be fair."

"It's not fair to you if you don't want to get married. The back door is right down the hall. I'll go with you and we can head to a bar or something." Eli chanced a small grin. "I'm sure your fiancé would be understanding."

Responding to his grin, she cracked a tiny smile. "I mean it's not like I don't want to get married, I'm just not sure if today is the day."

"Well, is your fiancé the guy you want to do this all with?" The dark haired man asked looking at her nervously. "Do you love him?" He asked staring into her eyes intently, trying to figure out her emotions.

Within a second, Clare spoke. "Eli, there's not a doubt in my mind that I love him. I still want to him to be my fiancé. I still want to be his fiancée. I just don't want to rush into things, which I know, it doesn't make sense. We've been dating for years, but what's another year of engagment? Today is supposed to be perfect, but I just don't think I'm ready quite yet." She said looking down while her tears flowed down her cheeckbones.

Eli quickly pulled her into a tight hug. "Then take your time. It's fine. I still love you, Clare. I'll always love you. Take all the time you need. We can be engaged for as long as you want, I don't mind." He said, dropping the third-person act. "I just want you to be happy and positive about everything. I don't want you to do anything you're not entirely sure about. I don't want you to have any regrets about today. It's not a big deal if we schedule a the wedding for a different day. I love you, and I'll never stop." Eli explained glancing into her eyes before moving his lips to hers. Their lips danced together as they tried to convey their love for each other.

Clare pulled back to catch her breath before smiling. "I love you so much, Eli. You're too good for deserve so much better." She said as she dropped her smile and gaze.

"Clare, don't say that. There's nobody better than you. We've been through hell and back, but I wouldn't change any of that. You're all I need." He said as he grabbed both of her hands.

"I'm so sorry, Eli. I promise I still want to get married, just not right now. I mean Adam couldn't even make it, Jake is in England, your grandmother couldn't even catch a flight! I know you really wanted her here." Clare rationed.

Eli let out a small chuckle. "Clare, it really doesn't matter if you want to postpone the wedding. We can just go back to the apartment and watch some movies. I don't care, as long as I'm with you. What do you say?" He smiled down at her.

"That sounds perfect." She pecked him on the lips. "I love you, Eli. And I promise, you'll be my husband soon."

"Clare, I love you too. I'm okay with waiting if that's what you want. How about we go apologize to everyone and explain what we've decided? Then we can go back to our place. We can even offer to pay for everyone's flight next time." Eli leaned down to kiss her forehead and squezed her hands reassuringly.

She took a deep breath and let go of one of his hands, facing the door. "You and me, forever and always, right?" She asked staring at the door.

Eli smiled down towards her. "Forever and always, baby." He felt her hand tighten around his as they walked towards the chapel. Before opening the doors to confront everyone, he gave her another tender kiss to strenghten her. He knew she was worried about everyone doubting her love for him and he knew she was afraid that they would all be dissapointed in her. He knew she was worried about getting married because of her parents divorcing years ago. But he also knew that no matter what, they love each other, and always will.


End file.
